wfinley

Wonderful! Loved all the pictures on your web site! I grew up in Bangkok and have since been back to climb. Loved it as a kid... loved going back to visit.

When you're on the summit the normal route tops out via a short mellow chimney that is completely nondescript. In the daytime it's easy routefinding because you can see the trail leading to the Canaleta just below final rocky chimney - but at night all you can see is a steep chimney surrounded by steep rocky chimneys. We reached the summit around midnight and I hunted around for a good hour before deciding to wait till daylight. Three times I started down only to discover I was downclimbing something much steeper than it should have been. Go too far to the north and you're on the rocky buttress seen in the below pic (right side). Walk 50 feet to the south and this is what you'll fall down. As for waiting for a climber to point the way... Given that 2 of 3 succumbed to either HAPE or HACE I'd guess that Greg was also suffering from high altitude sickness which inhibited his route-finding come daylight..

My condolences to the friends and family of Dave Reinhart and Eric Norse. I climbed the Polish Direct in 2010 and we also encountered bad conditions which lead to a summit bivouac; we escaped with minor frostbite but it was a long night. I cannot imagine the pain that Greg Nourse is going through right now.

Double boots are actually quite popular up here for bush whacking. Hunters - especially sheep hunters- wear them because they tend to be warmer and more durable than leathers. Plus it was -15 last weekend; leathers suck when you're slogging through snow at -15. FWIW I was with Jake when he tore up his boots and my invernos have hardly a scratch on them. I know they're different types of boots but they also cost double what invernos cost.

Trip: Southeast Rock - multiple Date: 10/21/2012 Trip Report: Spent a week climbing on the east coast in late October. It had been close to two decades since I had last visited some of these places. Beautiful rock, beautiful trees and southern hospitality. If you're a climber and have never climbed the big granite domes of North Carolina you need to take a road trip. Below are some of my favorite photos. All 70 of them are here: http://www.akmountain.com/index.cfm/2012/10/20/the-Southeast-Rocks Seneca Rocks Spent a weekend here dragging a brother up the easy routes. Fall colors weren't at the peak yet... but it was getting close. We climbed classics like Gunsight to Southpeak, Ecstasy Jr, Skyline and Old Ladies Route. Gunsight to South Peak. 5.3! Stone Mountain Spent a day climbing runout slab at Stone. My wife had never been here so it was on the list for sure. The Great Arch Unknown climber on Mercury's Lead. This is a 5.9 with a full 100' runout on the 2nd pitch. I climbed it 20 years ago when I had balls. No way I would touch it now. The climber in this photo splits his time between the Sierras & NC - so if you know him FWD him my site & I'll send him a bunch of pix. Yardarm. A 5.8 with a bit of a runout. Many a climber has been suckered onto this route b/c the start is easy - only to discover that the 5.8 move is just before a bolt after an 80' runout. Linville Gorge I was last at Linville 17 years ago and it's pretty much the same. Few people, colors at their peak and full on brushy bouldery approaches. This is one of my favorite areas on the east coast. The North Ridge. 250' 5.5. Very very fun! The Daddy. A 5 pitch 5.6 that is spectacular. The Mummy. The views on this route are crummy so don't bother. Looking Glass I was last at Looking Glass about 20 years ago. Mid-week you can have the place to yourself. Colors were a few days past peak but temps were in the 70s so no complaints. Crack climbing on the south face. We climbed Second Coming and Gemini Cracks. Gemini Cracks is excellent! The famous eyebrows. Looking up at the Nose. 400' 5.8. Top of the 3rd pitch on the Nose. Unknown climbers on Sundial. Gear Notes: Tricams for Looking Glass. Balls for Stone. Carharts for Linville bushwhacking. Approach Notes: Alaska Airlines

Bummer. The bushwhack that keeps on taking.

x2, only in my occasion the cornice failed, sending me flying down 10 feet or so and kicking off a wet-avalanche which i rode down on top of, all in sight of my big brother, who'd never worn snowshoes a day in his life x3. Off a cornice in a whiteout. We spent the rest of the day fishing.

This thread shouldn't be deconstruction of what he did or didn't do. It should be about what should have been done.

Drama!

Good point, but that's like comparing apples to oranges. We are talking South side Mt Hood here and 2012. Last spring I was in that exact same spot with 5 people. 2 had GPS, 1 had a compass and 1 person had done the route multiple times. Yet despite all of the above my partner skied right off a cornice at more or less the same spot where that guy died. The only difference is we were roped up so after 2 hours of trying to remember how to build a z-pulley we continued on our way. Climbers pretty much repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Sooner or later you'll fuck up too so ease off on the tough guy talk.

Textbook example of GPS and compass yet still screwing up.

Same here. Knowing how to use navigational aids is what makes them valuable. I have climbed down Hood in whiteout conditions with the help of a compass. Reading a compass or gps in foul weather is possible but not without risk. Especially in terrain where veering slightly offroute could prove fatal. So when someone gets caught out in a storm ease up on the "if only he could read a compass" BS. As for never going out except in good weather... maybe you can do that in Portland but you can't do that anywhere north of you.

Anyone who says "all you need is a compass" should try spending a night in a lenticular.

Check out the Hilleberg Nallo or Nammatj.

I think this graph from the most recent Accidents in NA Mountaineering is pertinent. According to their article 30% of all climbing accidents happen on the descent. Of that 30%, 29% of accidents are due to uneven ropes. Edited to say - I pretty much only climb on doubles and some years back chopped off about 10' of one rope due to a core shot. I climbed locally with that rope for couple more years but bought another rope for when I traveled to places I was unfamiliar with due to the possibility of rope stretching rappels.

I'd say it depends on where you climb. If you're climbing in areas where rope stretching raps are normal then I would say cut the rope with the core shot, throw it in your pile of core-shot-short-ropes and buy another half rope. If you climb in an area where raps tend to be around 50m then cut both of them and deal with shorter raps. I would not cut only one rope -- every year there are numerous accidents that have to do with rappel failures of some kind. Saving $200 is not worth that risk.

Here's another one. This is the Chugach version of 'death-by-toprope'. They'll stay on a route all day if you let them.

Busy day on Ama Dablam. A couple weeks after this photo was taken the mondo serac peeled off and killed a bunch of people.

Redoubt is still venting steam that be seen 100 miles away in Anchorage on a regular basis. That said - if you're dying to try it this person / post can help with logistics: http://kellieokonek.blogspot.com/2012/05/skiing-iliamnas-sw-ridge-more-aleutian.html

Not to belittle the devastating impact the Susitna dam would have on the entire Susitna watershed ... but the proposed dam is in Watana canyon which is upstream from Devils Canyon. Different places.

Escaping without a head injury when the fall involves "somersaulting down the turfy scrambling ground below, eventually coming to a violent stop wrapped around a birch tree on the slope below" is pure luck. That said - day 6 and 80% ankle range of movement? I broke my ankle last year... on day 6 I was still lying on the couch in a Percocet daze.

What's so bad about scooping up fish with big nets?

Nice! All those are super classic routes! I wouldn't say the Gunks are the best in the '48... but definitional top 10 in the 50! PS... there are no crags worth mentioning in AK or HI.

As long as you put in some of those cool steps I'm fine with it!

Wow. Amazing photos & burly traversing with all that gear! Love the Teton / Owen night shots. Edited to say... that's my friend Ralph standing on the summit of the Grand with your parents way back when!